


All Happy Families Are Alike

by copycat_capycot



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-28
Updated: 2015-11-28
Packaged: 2018-05-03 18:09:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5301581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/copycat_capycot/pseuds/copycat_capycot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chat Noir believes that Ladybug must have grown up as part of a happy family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All Happy Families Are Alike

Chat Noir believes that Ladybug must have grown up as part of a happy family. He sees evidence of that in her unfaltering sense of justice, her integrity, and most of her, her refusal to discuss her family. Perhaps “refusal” isn't the right word, because Chat Noir is the one who refuses to discuss his family, but Ladybug leaves out those tidbits of information because there is no need for her to say anything. She's purposeful, and only very rarely willing to indulge his curiosity about her life besides the whole Ladybug business. What she has revealed leaves him torn between joy that she would never have to experience what he does as Adrien Agreste, and envy that she would never be able to understand that particular wound.

And there is her confidence. She wears it more naturally than Chat will ever be able to wear his, and that is what solidifies his belief that she had been born of love and raised with love. His Lady, his strong and beautiful Lady, must have lived off of support and encouragement.

He knows that she would not hesitate to rescue anyone in need, no matter how petty or cruel or ignorant.

The thought creeps into his mind before he can stop it.

_What if Gabriel Agreste became the next victim? Would you still save him?_

That isn't a question he lingers over for too long. His father is still his father, and while Chat Noir has no reason to personally care for the man, Adrien Agreste loves his father. Leaving his father to the fate of the akuma isn't even a possibility, and Chat Noir isn't about to let Paris suffer simply because of a strained father-son relationship, especially not his own. But there remains the temptation to reveal himself as Chat Noir, to finally see something other than the coolly expectant expression on his father's face. To show that he has some measure of freedom that he has seized through his own decisions, that there are people who care for him and support him when his father fails to.

Plagg senses his thoughts, or at least gets an idea of what he is thinking, and shakes his head, unusually solemn.

“I know, I know,” Chat Noir whispers, head held in his hands. “I mustn't tell.”

But Chat Noir doesn't know what he would tell anyway. There's something he has that Adrien Agreste lacks, and he fears losing that something for good if the two personas merge into one. He's not ready to give up his Miraculous yet, or even the lifestyle that comes with it, but he doesn't know what else to do. He doesn't know if he can keep on becoming Chat Noir, not when he's constantly reminded of his lack of control over all other aspects of his life.

There is freedom in not telling the truth. But there is another kind of freedom in telling the truth as well.

Chat Noir doesn't know if he's willing to trade one freedom for another.

He doesn't even know who Chat Noir is. Another side to Adrien Agreste? An alter ego? Another mask that seems to fit just a bit better? Or just one in the long line of Chat Noirs who have protected the Earth through the centuries, something older and bigger than his own self?

Ladybug knows who she is. She must know, for how can she keep her dual lives so separate? The truth doesn't matter nearly as much to Ladybug, not when she must be the same both as Ladybug and as a civilian. He told her once that he'd recognize her anywhere, and he's still sure that he can. How can anyone hide such genuine goodness?

He loves her. He longs for her. But he also desperately envies her.

* * *

Adrien believes that Marinette must have grown up as part of a happy family. He sees evidence of that in her unfaltering sense of justice, her integrity, and most of her, her constant discussions about her family.

He hears about her mother and how she loves to wear flowers in the hair, and how she manipulates Marinette into cleaning her room periodically. He hears about her father and the way he has turned bread-making into his own art medium, and his creativity is evident in Marinette as she constantly sketches during breaks in class.

He sees the way she smiles at her friends and runs after them when they are upset, and that is what solidifies his belief that she had been born of love and raised with love. Marinette, clumsy and cheerful Marinette, must have lived off of support and encouragement.

He knows that she would not hesitate to comfort anyone in need, no matter how petty or cruel or ignorant.

The thought creeps into his mind before he can stop it.

_She would never understand._

**Author's Note:**

> I'm amazed by how cheerful Adrien is at times. If I were him, I would be angsting it up. Ahhh, adolescence.


End file.
